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Trudeau’s plan for Senate reform goes in right direction: Editorial

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Senate fix — making it “more independent, less partisan” and hopefully more ethically minded — is the best practical remedy.

Like this cleaner, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau hopes to polish the Senate. (Pawel Dwulit / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

Thu., Dec. 3, 2015

After the stink of one Senate scandal after another, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s plans to clean up the dysfunctional, discredited Red Chamber are a welcome relief. He’s throwing open the windows to let a blast of fresh air sweep through the fetid corridors.

Canadians were appalled at how low the Senate sank on Stephen Harper’s watch. The so-called chamber of sober second thought was stacked with unfit Tory cronies. It was unwilling or unable to rein in self-indulgent spending. It was tainted by allegations of fraud and bribery. Many would have liked to consign it to the trash heap of history.

But the Constitution is not easily torn up, and the Senate will be with us for the foreseeable future. Given that, Trudeau’s fix — making the place “more independent, less partisan” and hopefully more ethically minded — is the best practical remedy on offer, and he has the mandate to deliver.

After cutting his own Liberal senators loose last year from the party whip Trudeau promised to appoint only independents in the future. And he campaigned as an agent of change, promising to bring in an “open, transparent and public process” for vetting candidates, to attract higher-quality ones. He is delivering on all counts.

Since its creation at Confederation in 1867 the appointed and highly partisan Senate has served as a cozy retirement home for party grandees, bagmen and hacks. Yet the Constitution sets a dauntingly high bar for root-and-branch reform.

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Abolishing the Senate would require the assent of Parliament plus all 10 provinces. It’s near-impossible. And it can’t be abolished by stealth by allowing vacancies to pile up. Even lesser reforms, such as making the Senate an elected body or limiting senators’ terms, need the support of Parliament plus seven provinces with half the country’s population. No easy thing.

Trudeau’s preferred fix — transforming the Senate into a non-partisan, merit-based chamber — won’t appease everyone. Critics liken it to putting lipstick on a pig. But he’s doing what he can, short of opening a constitutional can of worms.

Beginning this year, Trudeau will appoint a five-member advisory board to canvass the field for qualified Senate candidates when a seat falls vacant, and to put forward a non-binding shortlist of five names from which he can choose. The board will consist of a federally-appointed chair and two federal appointees, plus two ad hoc members from the provinces or territories with the vacancies. That guarantees broad consultation.

Importantly, candidates will be expected to have a record of achievement and public service, show integrity, be non-partisan, and grasp the role of the upper chamber, which includes analyzing and revising legislation, investigating national issues and championing regional, provincial and minority interests. Gender balance will also be a goal. All this should help restore public confidence.

This keeps the process in the PM’s hands, and the voters can hold him and his party accountable. That’s a good thing. That said, Trudeau would be well-advised to seek tacit approval from the Conservative and New Democrat leadership for federal appointments to the board in order to bolster its credibility.

Trudeau has just named Independent Liberal Sen. George Furey as the new Senate speaker. And one of the first five senators Trudeau intends to name early in 2016 will serve as the government’s representative, to steer business through the chamber.

How the remodelled 105-seat Senate will function is still up in the air. The Conservatives now dominate, with 45 seats. There are 29 independent Liberals who are free to vote their conscience, nine independents and 22 vacancies. That balance will shift over the course of next year as Trudeau fills vacancies.

In theory, at least, the Conservatives are positioned to try to thwart Liberal legislation by whipping their members on a vote and wooing a few independents to their side. But they would risk paying a high political price.

The better course would be for the Conservatives, under a new leader, to follow Trudeau’s pragmatic example and cut loose their own caucus. Many Tory Senators are eager to act independently.

If Canada is to have a Senate, it should be as independent, merit-based and ethically-minded as possible.

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